Agency Blueprint Robert Patin

Are your decisions guiding you to where you want to take your business? As an agency owner, you should focus your decisions on data to increase revenue, improve profits, and ultimately improve cash flow.  
In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, Jon joins me to discuss the science of agency decision-making and why all decisions should be guided by data. Jon Morris is the Founder and CEO of Ramsay Innovations, a tech-enabled finance and strategic planning company that helps marketing agencies drive success. He was also the Founder and CEO of Rise Interactive, an award-winning full-service digital marketing agency. 
Don’t miss this episode to learn more about the importance of having an operational account, savings account, and media account as a general rule for any agency.  
Key Questions:   
[02:22] What key decisions did you make at Rise that allowed you to scale your agency?  [14:54] What’s your typical advice to clients about how much cash they should have as it reflects in their operational expenses? [21:48] If you were to select one or two things in each category to grow revenue and cash, what would you advise?  
What You’ll Discover:  
[02:32] Jon explains why scaling an agency should be primarily based on revenue, profit, and cash. [05:13] How to increase the percent of your revenue on sales and marketing as a key metric in scaling your business.  [10:21] Strategies to make revenue/profit and invest it back to the sales and marketing piece of your agency.  [15:05] Why you should have at least two to three bank accounts as a general rule to manage operations, savings, and media expenses. [18:52] The advantages of having available cash/resources in your agency to support strategic business operations.  [22:12] The three metrics that matter when you think about growing revenue, plus recommendations on how to best deliver revenue.  
Connect with Jon: 
LinkedInFree eBook: Decision-Making Science for Agencies

What is the productization of agency services, and how can it be done? Productization can be defined as solving a problem you know people have, following a similar identical process for each client. The easiest transition to productization is when it’s derived from things you’ve already been doing for your existing clients, which doesn’t change your agency’s entire process.  
In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I’m joined by Greg Hickman to discuss agency productization and how to design productization correctly. Greg is the Founder and CEO of AltAgency™. Over the last 4 years, Greg and his team have transformed AltAgency™ from an automation consultancy serving many well-known entrepreneurs and growth experts into one of the top coaching and training companies for agencies looking to grow and scale by packaging their expertise, installing systems for growth and leveraging automation to save time. 
Don’t miss this episode to learn what happens when agency owners decide to productize and systemize. 
Key Questions:   
[01:05] What do you define as productization or to productize services for an agency? [08:28] What have you seen with non-productized and non-systemized agencies after they’ve done the work to create process?  [14:37] What are your thoughts about monetizing expertise properly for agency owners?  [24:56] What’s your advice to an agency owner wanting to productize beyond the process-oriented aspects? 
What You’ll Discover:  
[01:19] Greg describes productization as solving a problem you know people have following a similar identical process for each client. [04:10] The difference between the “done for you” and “done with you” modalities and the opportunities layered with the latter. [07:10] How to design productization to include customization and creativity to streamline processes. [08:51] Greg explains what happens when agency owners decide to productize and systemize.  [15:03] How to monetize your expertise by identifying your strategic component that allows for your process.  [19:03] Understanding that clients have a shelf-life and how to extend a lifetime value to them as an advantage to you. [23:17] How to clearly articulate your process to remain unique instead of selling on price.  [25:16] Greg on how to productize the right way beyond the process-oriented pieces.  
Connect with Greg: 
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Where is your agency’s focus on, efficiency or effectiveness? Is your focus creating the outcome you’re looking for? Maybe it’s time you open up to changing your mindset from efficiency to effectiveness.  
In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, we discuss the key differences between efficiency and effectiveness in a creative agency. We also explain why, as a businessowner, you should focus on developing an effectiveness mindset to create a larger impact on client deliverables and agency processes. 
Don’t miss this episode to learn more about how to refocus the idea of efficiency vs. effectiveness, plus measure effectiveness in your agency.  
Key Questions:   
[01:56] What are the main differences between what would be considered efficiency and effectiveness? [08:31] How do you measure your agency's effectiveness?  
What You’ll Discover: 
[02:14] The main differences between efficiency and effectiveness and why the idea of efficiency is a short-sighted mindset.  [04:36] Understanding that effectiveness is about the larger impact on client deliverables and agency processes.  [08:31] How having an effective team allows you to produce client results in less amount of time.  [10:48] Effectiveness indicators – on-time completion, frequent SOP updates, and the number of revisions. [14:43] The importance of managing your business by the numbers to measure how you’re making profits and providing impact.  [15:38] How to refocus the idea of efficiency vs. effectiveness because agency effectiveness leads to efficiency.

How can you create operational excellence in your agency? The truth is, if you don’t have operational efficiency, you’re going nowhere. Creating operational efficiency is possible; it’s partly about recognizing primary problems, letting go and letting your team, and having a way of measuring where success lies and adjusting to it.  
In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I’m joined by Rob Sayles to discuss what it takes to create the ideal operational efficiency in an agency. Rob has more than 25 years of experience in the digital marketing industry. He’s taken agencies from startup to exit, built operational divisions within corporates, established working units in various countries, and created global centers of excellence, all focused on creativity, productivity, and profitability.  
Don’t miss this episode to learn the importance of leveraging your team's power to find solutions and avoid creating risks to the business's future.    
Key Questions:   
[01:22] What is ideal operational efficiency in the concept of an agency?  [06:33] What do you think is at the core of many agencies' avoiding systemizing their business and implementing processes?  [08:40] What are the common places within an agency where you see the most inefficiency?  [20:27] What is one of the best ways to leverage the team to create continuous improvement within your systems and processes?  
What You’ll Discover:  
[01:36] Ideal operational efficiency – having as high a margin as possible and producing high-quality service on time and budget.  [03:40] The massive outcomes of the benefits of operational efficiency for the leader, team, and clients.  [07:11] How ego and fear become a barrier to putting in an operating system and process of people working together.  [08:48] Understanding what causes fundamental inefficiencies of an agency and how to solve them.  [12:02] How to be proactive and find solutions to the existing problems and avoid creating risk to the future of the business.   [20:36] How to leverage the power of your team to create continuous improvement within your systems and processes.  [23:11] The importance of constantly taking steps into the unknown and having a way of measuring where success lies and adjusting to it.  [26:19] How to empower your team to make decisions and learn for themselves by removing yourself from every situation.  
Connect with Rob: 
Website

Are you in a place where your revenue has declined in the last 12-24 months, and you’re looking to have a recovery? Or maybe you want to recognize potential risk areas and how you can mitigate that risk.  
In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I share the journey of a particular agency, how they handled a crisis, and how they recovered from their situation. I explain the systems and processes I helped them put together to manage the crisis, avoid going out of business, and get back to agency growth mode.  
Listen in to learn how to build strategies focusing on an agency’s short-term revenue needs and long-term revenue opportunities.   
Key Question:   
[00:58] Are you going through a crisis and would like to know how you can approach recovery?  
What You’ll Discover: 
[01:14] An example of an agency that went into full crisis mode, how they found themselves there, how they managed the situation. [02:21] How to create space to avoid going out of business, get to a breakeven or profitable place, and be able to manage the situation.  [03:34] Have an audit to review where there’s room for adjustments to eliminate the easily eliminated expenses. [04:45] How to adjust the agency’s focus by getting clear on the objectives and how exactly you’ll get there. [06:35] Ways to market to your existing relationships to increase your chances of bringing in revenue when you have a longer sales cycle.  [08:38] The best strategy to build new relationships with brands you want to work with to position yourself and sell campaigns.  [12:17] The importance of investing enough into refining processes to eliminate wasting your team’s time. [14:35] The actions to take to be able to manage growth, like recruiting to grow the team back. [16:08] The importance of continuous improvement of processes through constant communication with the team.

How do you approach creating a plan to serve content to your leads in a nurturing way? When marketing, it’s against your prospect’s attention, so you need to understand the value they get by committing to your content.  
In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I discuss how to strategically structure consumable content in the marketing and sales funnels. I explain the importance of always considering the level of commitment your content will take and where in the funnel each type of content belongs.  
Listen in to learn about questions to ask yourself to understand how your content will turn a prospect into a customer. 
Key Questions:   
[01:40] How do you create content in a structured way that helps your prospects know you better? [11:05] What do you serve content? What is the mechanism that you’re delivering it in? What is the time commitment it takes for someone to consume that type of content? 
What You’ll Discover: 
[02:30] The importance of understanding the level of commitment it takes to consume the content you produce.  [03:58] The importance of delivering consumable content to increase your lead’s level of commitment.  [06:06] List the type of content you’re currently producing, think of the time commitment needed to consume, and the time needed to implement.  [07:35] Think about the stages of your marketing funnel and the types of content you’ll be serving.  [09:04] How to strategically serve different types of content from when a lead learns about your agency to when they sign the contract. [11:05] Questions to ask yourself to understand how your content will turn a prospect into a customer.  [12:35] Always consider the level of commitment your content will take and then map that in your marketing and sales funnels.